Decision 46 COM 5A

Report of the World Heritage Centre on its activities and the implementation of the World Heritage Committee’s Decisions

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Documents WHC/24/46.COM/5A and WHC/24/46.COM/INF.5A,
2. Recalling Decisions 44 COM 5A and 45 COM 5A adopted at its extended 44th (Fuzhou/online, 2021) and extended 45th (Riyadh, 2023) sessions respectively,
3. Takes note with appreciation of the activities undertaken by the World Heritage Centre over the past year in pursuit of Output 5.CLT1 to ensure that “Member States’ capacities [are] strengthened to identify, protect and manage tangible heritage”, and the five Strategic Objectives of the World Heritage Committee;
4. Notes with appreciation that UNESCO organized, in close cooperation with the government of Italy, the Naples Conference on Cultural Heritage in the 21st century in November 2023, as the first major event bringing together the 1972 Convention on the World Cultural and Natural Heritage and the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, thanks the government of Italy for its initiative, encourages the reinforcement of synergies between World Heritage and Intangible Cultural Heritage, and invites all World Heritage stakeholders to draw inspiration from the Call for Action ‘The Spirit of Naples’;
5. Commends the government of Norway for its continued substantial contribution to the World Heritage Fund to strengthen management and conservation of severely threatened natural World Heritage properties in Africa, including those inscribed on the List of World Heritage in Danger and calls on other States Parties to join this initiative;
6. Welcomes the continued efforts of the World Heritage Centre to collaborate and enhance synergies among UNESCO’s Culture conventions and the Biodiversity-related conventions and programmes towards the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), thanks the government of Switzerland for its funding to strengthen this work, and reiterates its requests to the States Parties to pursue such cooperation also at the national level, including in the implementation of the National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs);
7. Welcomes the proposed organization of an expert meeting on World Heritage and the Kunming-Montreal GBF end of 2024, towards identifying and further developing coordinated actions on World Heritage and the GBF, and invites States Parties to contribute financially for this purpose;
8. Thanks the States Parties that have provided geo-referenced data of World Heritage properties for inclusion in the World Heritage Online Map Platform and encourages all States Parties to submit such data in order to fully benefit from the potential of this tool for monitoring the state of conservation of World Heritage properties;
9. Thanks all the States Parties that generously supported financially and/or in kind both the activities towards the implementation of the Convention, as well as the reinforcement of the human resources of the World Heritage Centre, and invites other States Parties to continue providing such support and increase it where possible;
10. Notes with concern that the implementation of the World Heritage Convention faces several significant challenges, including financial and capacity constraints, that impact its effectiveness;
11. Invites the Director General to reinforce the World Heritage Centre notably by allocating more UNESCO financial and human resources to the World Heritage Centre and by supporting its fundraising activities from the private sector, civil society, multilateral funds and institutions in line with UNESCO’s financial rules and regulations;
12. Takes note of the discussions held during its 46th session (New Delhi, 2024) regarding the UNESCO Mid-term Strategy (C/4) and the draft Programme and Budget (C/5) documents, in conformity with 42 C/Resolution 81, adopted by the General Conference at its 42nd session (UNESCO, 2023);
13. Requests the World Heritage Centre to present a report on its activities, including a result-based report on the Thematic Programmes, under Item 5A, for examination by the World Heritage Committee at its 47th session.